Google Details Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0

Google today announced details of the latest version of Android, called Ice Cream Sandwich. According to Google, the idea behind Ice Cream Sandwich was to bring the Gingerbread and Honeycomb branches of the operating system together and form one, master OS that works on both smartphones and tablets. Google said it wanted Ice Cream Sandwich to have "an entirely new look and feel." The most striking of the new features is called Face Unlock, which uses the camera and facial recognition software to scan the user's face in order to unlock the phone. Other stand-out features of the new operating system include a full(er) web browsing experience, improved multitasking, near-field communications support in the new Android Beam application (for sharing personal data between NFC phones), improved notifications, and even deeper integration with social networks such as Google's own Google+. The camera user interface has been redesigned and offers features such as zero shutter lag, new effects, native panorama mode, and parlor tricks such as replacing the background of photos. Google Talk and its Video Chat client have been updated and can take advantage of some of the camera features mentioned above, including HD video streaming. The native resolution of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich will be 1280 x 720 HD, for the best possible video experience.